Friends; for all of us 5-spd Insight owners, few truly realize how much benefit highway cruizing in lean burn is providing! Do NOT underestimate it. I roughly calculate the lean burn catalyst system is good for 18.65 extra mpg, or about 23%, compared to the same car without a lean burn system. This is huge! In fact, achieving mpg in the 80's and 90's is directly related to one's ability to slow down slighty & remain in lean burn mode as much as possible. Billy.....
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2005 Red 5 spd, color video cam w/5' monitor instead of outside mirrors, no rear wiper, tint, clear-coated & highly polished, car shows on weekends, LMPG 89.5
___I have now had (5) > 100 mpg/95 + mile segments in the last 2 months w/ Lean Burn leading the way. I don’t know of a CVT that has achieved even 70 mpg for that many segments over that kind of distance so I would say Lean Burn is worth even more then what you have estimated given yours and Rick Reece’s mileages in the 5-speeds. Not to long ago, I used to think the CVT might be the answer for some but to lose 30 + mpg is absolutely insane to consider for the exact same automobile irregardless of ones driving conditions imho.
___Then again, I wouldn’t want to drive a 5-speed through downtown NY, Chicago, L.A., or San Francisco either
___Good Luck
___Wayne R. Gerdes
___Hunt Club Farms Landscaping Ltd.
___[email:31mdflbv]Waynegerdes@earthlink.net[/email:31mdflbv]
Hi Wayne, you may be right, but my estimate is conservative, and based on a 5sp with no lean burn, not a CVT. I think a non LB 5sp (theoretical) would still slightly exceed the mpg of a CVT, due to the final drive ratio and gearing. Billy....
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2005 Red 5 spd, color video cam w/5' monitor instead of outside mirrors, no rear wiper, tint, clear-coated & highly polished, car shows on weekends, LMPG 89.5
I'm fairly new here, just got a 00 five-speed about 6 weeks ago. My question is "what is nirvana?" excuse me, I mean "what is lean burn?", how do you achieve it, and how do you know when you have achieved it?
my estimate is conservative, and based on a 5sp with no lean burn, not a CVT.
Look for a 5% loss from the torque converter of the CVT, which is offset in city driving by the innate efficiency of the CVT transmission when compared to shifting losses in a 5spd. Results in slightly better city MPG and worse highway MPG. For example, look at the numbers for Civic Hybrid: 47/48 mpg city/highway CVT and 45/51 mpg city/highway 5spd.
Very precise control over fuel injection, a strong air-fuel swirl created in the combustion chamber, a new linear air-fuel sensor and lean-burn NOx catalyst allows the use of stratified-charge lean burn combustion technology. The Insight's engine will operate on air-fuel ratios as low as 22:1, meaning that the amount of fuel drawn into the engine can be reduced to much lower than that of a typical 1.0 liter gasoline engine which operates at 14.7:1. This happens under light load conditions, which will often include cruising as fast as highway speeds.
Stratified-charge combustion means that the air-fuel ratio isn't equal throughout the cylinder. Instead, precise control over fuel injection allows a greater concentration of fuel closer to the spark plug, further improving combustion efficiency.
___What it looks like is a jump of 20 – 40 mpg on the instantaneous mpg gauge underneath your mpg and distance readouts when your Insight enters Lean Burn.
___What it feels like is a slight deceleration (decrease in speed) when you enter into Lean Burn mode and a slight acceleration (increase in speed) when the Insight’s ICE comes out of lean burn and goes into its NOx purge mode. What it feels like to me personally is the feeling you get in an airliner when it is slowing down/dropping altitude and you feel that lighter weight feeling as if you are floating somewhat. The NOx purge feels like a small kick in the pants or like you stepped into the accelerator a small amount even though you didn’t move your foot.
___Good Luck
___Wayne R. Gerdes
___Hunt Club Farms Landscaping Ltd.
___[email:1eqrmcl8]Waynegerdes@earthlink.net[/email:1eqrmcl8]
I agree lean burn is great. When they introduced the VTEC-E engine in the 92 Civic VX it made my next car decision easy. I remember Car and Driver attempted a round trip between SF and LA. I believe they covered over 700 miles before running out of gas. I have heard that the atkinson engine is more efficient (hopefully I spelled it right) but I have my doubts as I have yet to see a car with that engine beat a honda lean burn car's fuel economy. Have fun, Rick
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Rick 00 #4738 (5sp) Lmpg 90.7 @ 150K miles
02 #1784 (CVT) Lmpg 52.6 @ 35K miles
I got over 70mpg last summer in new mexico and arizona in my CVT. I'd say that trip was about 300 or so miles, but man was it hot!
I bought the car based on the sticker ratings. Had I known that lean burn would make that much of a difference(especially the way I drive) I would have never gotten the CVT. The best I can do in NJ is about 63mpg on 100+ mile trips (and that's really hard if I don't wanna get run over by an excursion). I'm pretty sure the civics can't do that.
My best tank so far this year is 61mpg. I'm hoping the 2005's come out so I can get a left over 2004 5speed for a reasonable price.
my estimate is conservative, and based on a 5sp with no lean burn, not a CVT.
Look for a 5% loss from the torque converter of the CVT, which is offset in city driving by the innate efficiency of the CVT transmission when compared to shifting losses in a 5spd. Results in slightly better city MPG and worse highway MPG. For example, look at the numbers for Civic Hybrid: 47/48 mpg city/highway CVT and 45/51 mpg city/highway 5spd.
If you're a new Insight owner, I suggest spending time going through the encyclopedia and knowledge base at the main site. It's a remarkable resource.
just to clarify, the CVT doesn't have a torque converter: http://www.insightcentral.net/encyclopedia/encvt.html
"The Unique Features of the Honda Multimatic The Honda Multimatic does not use a torque converter, but uses a newly designed multi-layered clutch."
Lean burn is great!
The InsightCenral.net encyclopedia is great!
No matter how many times most of us look at/refer to/read it we are still bound to miss/misunderstand/forget/misstate something explained in the encyclopedia.
Any misstatement will quickly be corrected by the helpful editorial staff on duty 24/7.
Insights are great!
Insight enthusiasts are human. (Let’s not get carried away here)
All hail!
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Hail to Lean Burn1!!
I'm fairly new here, just got a 00 five-speed about 6 weeks ago. My question is "what is nirvana?" excuse me, I mean "what is lean burn?", how do you achieve it, and how do you know when you have achieved it?
